A fake bomb threat grounded a flight carrying a top Sony executive - at the same time as hackers attacked the company's PlayStation Network.

A major Distributed Denial Of Service (DDOS) attack on the gaming and entertainment network took place on Sunday, with engineers scrambling to get the service back up and running.

A Twitter account called Lizard Squad claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was aligned with Islamic State.

One message read: "Kuffar don't get to play videogames until bombing of the ISIL stops.

"Today we planted the ISIS flag on Sony's servers."

Image:Mr Smedley announces on Twitter that his plane was diverted

Two hours later, it sent a message to American Airlines saying: "We have been receiving reports that (Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley's) plane ... has explosives on board, please look into this."

The executive was travelling from Dallas to San Francisco.

Later, Mr Smedley posted a Twitter update saying: "Yes. My plane was diverted. Not going to discuss more than that. Justice will find these guys."

A hacker known as Famed God claimed to be responsible for the DDOS attack, saying Lizard Squad had stolen credit.